Time to separate the men from the girls, contenders from pretenders. Ratbirds have gotten lucky a number of times this season, just like we did Sunday. In fact, they gave up 31 and went to OT with the Bills. They sure didn't show much vs. the Bucs on Sunday.

We really need this win. Cle is no pushover this year. Still have to face the Jets. Winning this one gives us a leg up in the division and a decent chance to have a first-round bye. Much like 2008, this is the game where we need to step up.

Not a big fan of the term, but I'd call this one a "must win." With a loss, you can pretty much kiss the division goodbye as they'll effectively be a game and a half behind.

Then, you start talking wildcard and even that is no guarantee. KC and SD are playin' some damn good football at the right time.

Gotta step it up and get some MF'in rhythm; need to look cohesive on both sides of the ball. TBH, I think they've managed to get to 8-3 without really firing on all cylinders. Hopefully, they can get it cranked up and clicking before it's too late.

I may have to work some magic somehow and score some tix to this Pitt/Baly battle again...you know, for good luck...

Before we freak out over a 3-point OT win over the Bills, after a dominant first half and then another late meltdown, remember that the Ravens went to OT with them in Baltimore, 37-34.

Which made me wonder how we've fared against common opponents. So far, we've each played the Browns and Bengals once, as well as the Patriots, Bills, and Dolphins from the AFCE rotation, and the Falcons and Bucs from the NFCS rotation.

In those games, the Ravens are 4-3, the Steelers 6-1.

Ravens PF-PA is 155-135, and a margin of +20 (+2.86/game).Steelers PF-PA os 176-124, and a margin of +52 (+7.43/game).

Counting HFA as a +3, the adjusted Ravens margin is +17 (+2.43/game) and the Steelers is +55 (7.86/game).

Ravens D is not as dominant as it was. Their offense is sporadic.

Our OL is hideous. The o/u on sacks has to be 6.5, given the Bills notching 5.

Vegas has the Ravens -3, which seems right. It's all about the usual stuff: turnovers, RZ scoring, not giving up sacks by the bushel, overcoming bullshit from Goodell's mafia.

This has a 24-23 kinda feel to it, still not sure which way the coin falls though.

LeRon McClain, Dawan Landry, and Mike Oher are ? for the game. Oher's the key here: the Ravens didn't do shit with him out. Sort of evens the field a bit, with our sorry assemblage of lost rhinoceri on the OL.